


Chapstick

by DontRememberMeForWhoIWas



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe, California, Desk Job, Fluff, Love, M/M, No freaky upside down horrification shit, Romance, Walgreens, adult au, chapstick, i mean i guess, kiss, love is love, probably product placement, teacher, texting?, that kinda stuff, this is crap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-30
Updated: 2017-07-30
Packaged: 2018-12-09 00:21:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11657730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DontRememberMeForWhoIWas/pseuds/DontRememberMeForWhoIWas
Summary: Mike Wheeler is your average broke teacher, so he works at Walgreens during the Summer. In comes Will Byers, wild and lunatic looking, in desperate need of Chapstick.





	Chapstick

**Author's Note:**

> This is crap. True crap. Cheesy as heck.

Mike Wheeler lived an average life. His days were dull, and his nights were wasted on funny dog videos. Did he really care? No, not really, actually. He wasn’t trying to rush things. He’d made his way to San Francisco from Indiana like he’d always dreamed, and…. Didn’t know where to go from there. It was rough rent for living in a city that could be destroyed at any moment, so he packed his bags and moved southeast. Still in California. Just, a small town called Modesto.

 

With his teaching degree at hand, he had landed a job in the area, teaching middle school English to a bunch of twelve year olds. In the Summertime, he worked at local drug stores. The payment kept him alive, well, and safe, but it wasn’t satisfying. He went to San Francisco in the first place, because he wanted to  _ write _ . His imagination was legendary to Indiana, but unseen in California. What was he doing wrong? Watching dog videos until 3 am, of course. No, Mike Wheeler wasn’t special. Mike Wheeler was just unfortunately average.

 

It was around the time of year that school was getting out, so he applied to many convenience and department stores, before settling in for a Summer of working at Walgreens.

 

On an average day, customers would find Mike restocking the cold drinks section or sitting behind the front desk with his feet on the counter. Either way, he avoided eye contact like the plague. He was not about to have one of his students recognize him in such a place. No one would ever let him live that down. Ever.

 

On a surprisingly cool evening in late June, a young man around Mike's age stumbled through the automatic doors in a frenzy, all wild eyes and frantically in search of something. Mumbling, the man made a stampede of his sneakers, straight for the front desk where Mike had lazily sat up out of his own tired stance.

 

Mike's ears perked and eyes began searching when the man slammed his hands on the counter, muttering, “ChapStick. Water.” His actions were unsettling, and gasps for breath concerning. Mike chanced looking into the eyes of the man, and was met with the most beautiful hazel eyes he'd ever seen. Before he could embarrass himself by gazing into the incredulous eyes of a stranger, Mike simply gaped at the man as he pointed to the side of the cash register, and then to the fridge a few feet away.

 

“Thanks,” said the strange customer, an apology already forming in his eyes. This guy knew how crazy he must look. Not bothering to waste time, however, he snagged a tube of ChapStick, shoved a water onto the counter, and payed his $3.87 before rushing out the door as if he'd never been there in the first place.

 

Mike shrugged, nonchalant. He didn't think much of it until the next day, when the same man came in again, this time all poised and dressed in a JC Penny's menswear suit. Mike would not have known it was the same man if he didn't double take at the amount of ChapStick shoved on the counter in front of him. Eyes wide, he made contact with the hazel sea of stars staring determinedly before him. This was a man on a mission, and Mike wasn't about to deter him. 15 plus tubes of ChapStick, or not.

 

Smiling with a mix of admiration and confusion, Mike took the two twenty dollar bills, sliding the cash out of the man's hand. There were only sixty eight cents change, so the mystery man gave a sheepish grin and told Mike to hang on to the coins, and that, “I'll catch you later”.

 

That night, Mike fell asleep to flashes of different colored ChapSticks and waves of green flowing through a solid brown.

 

Over the next two weeks, the man came in and bought increasingly random amounts of ChapStick. Every day. On one day he might buy two or three tubes, but other days it seemed he spent a fortune on ChapStick. Occasionally, he'd spice it up, throw a pack of mints in there, or a chocolate bar, but ChapStick remained the only common factor in the man's shopping list that Mike could see. No reason to his sanity was given, and it only ever endeared Mike further.

 

Eventually, he began talking to the man. They knew the other's favorite ChapStick flavors and their favorite bands and video games (based on t-shirts and pins), but neither knew the other's name. For the love of cheese and crackers, Mike just couldn't figure out how to start up any conversation other than small talk, and his small and slowly forming crush on the mystery guy did nothing to help that.

 

So consumed, he didn't notice that Hazel Eyes began to solely purchase Mike's favorite ChapStick; spearmint.

 

Finally, one day in mid July, Mike had had enough. This mysterious ChapStick hoarder was losing him his sanity and his stock of ChapStick. What was the guy's deal? Unfortunately….. his wording could have been better.

 

“So, how many people do you have to kiss a day, if you keep wearing all that ChapStick?” Was Mike's, probably quite stupid, question.

 

The man, alarmed, sputtered a lame response, “I don't, actually, I just, uh….” he seemed to be searching for some kind of an excuse as his cheeks turned a nearly neon shade of red. “I do a lot of talking. That's all.”

 

Mike chuckled and bravely continued, “For someone who talks a lot you'd think I'd know your name.” Leaning over the counter, Mike made clear where his name tag was on his shirt, and grinned while Hazel Eyes wrung his hands nervously together.

 

“Oh right. Well, you're Mike, obviously. So I knew that, but you didn't know mine so I guess you still dont know mine, and-”

 

“Hey, it's okay. I'm just teasing you.” Mike  _ winked _ .

 

Mouth agape, the poor blushing mess in front of him blurted, “Will!”

 

“Will?”

 

“Yeah, uh that's my name. Will Byers. That's… that's my name.”

 

“Well, Will Byers,” Mike took a step away from the counter. “I'm Mike Wheeler.”

 

“Wheeler?”

 

Mike's own face turned rosy at the mention of his last name. “Yeah, not the best name to have when you teach middle schoolers.”

 

Will cocked his head, curious, “Middle school? So this is like one of those broke teacher's Summer job type of thing?” Suddenly, Will looked horrified, “Oh no, that sounded awful didn't it? Oh God. I didn't mean it like that….” He groaned in frustration, but Mike only put his hand on Will's and smiled reassuringly.

 

“Hey, it's fine. That's exactly what it is. Modesto's school system sucks. I gotta pay the bills somehow.”

 

Will slowly recovered from his horrified stupor, mumbling about how the job must at least be more entertaining than his own job inputting data for an insurance company.

 

The two ended up chatting until the end of Mike's shift. It was rare that anyone would come into the store, so it startled the both of them when the next shift’s employee came running in, blabbering about being sorry for not getting there on time. Having lost track of the hours, Mike quickly scrambled to get his belongings gathered, while continuing to talk to Will about everything, nothing, and anything all at once.

 

“So, the kid was like, ‘yeah, the robot that I built 2 years ago ripped my homework to shreds with its’ knife hands, and I didn't feel like doing it all over again’.”

 

“No way! How'd you handle that?”

 

“Well, obviously, I was already done with everything that day, considering the girl who brought a pasta maker into class earlier that morning. So I just waved him off and put on Big Hero 6 for the rest of class.”

 

“Wow,” Will trailed off, the conversation dying into a delicate silence.

 

After a few minutes, Mike spoke up, “So, uh. Do you maybe want to go get coffee sometime? Or dinner or something?”

 

“Dinner would be lovely,” Will let out in a single breath.

 

“Okay. Okay, cool.” Mike giggled nervously. “Um, can I get your number, maybe?” He pulled out his phone as Will affirmed permission. They both exchanged numbers, and slipped their phones back into their pockets. 

 

They both glanced up at each other longingly, and by some twist of the circumstances, Mike found himself cradling Will's jaw as they both simultaneously leaned in for a kiss. It was chaste, sweet, and for whatever reason, tasted like spearmint. They broke apart, both blushing messes, and made their way to each of their respective cars. Both drove home that afternoon grinning like mad men.

 

Later that night, Mike texted Will,

 

Mike: I'm looking forward to our dinner date ;) Is Friday night okay for you?

 

Will had responded within the minute,

 

Will: Sounds prefect. :) ;) :)

  
With that, Mike had the oddest feeling that maybe his life could be better than average. He fell asleep that night to twinkling starlight in a haze of hazel.

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked it or whatever please leave kudos and comments! I love to hear from y'all! If you want to request something, go on ahead! I love a good prompt! :)


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